Soulmates
by SunsetsandSunrise
Summary: Emily Fields wakes up on her birthday knowing that from that day forward she'll be worried that the next person that speaks to her could be her soulmate. Paige McCullers is more than happy to let the universe (and her tattoo) guide her to her soulmate. AU one-shot inspired by tumblr post. Paily. AU. One-shot.


A/N: Hey guys, here's a one-shot inspired by a post I saw on tumblr.

_soulmate AU where you wake up on your 18th birthday with the first words your summate will say to you tattooed on your body so you'll know them when you meet them._

I just had to do it. Enjoy, Hopefully :)

Also posted on my tumblr: bi-tomorrows-sunset

* * *

Emily Fields rubbed her hip absently, the skin just as smooth and soft as it had been the night before; except this time neat black script covered the soft flesh of her hip, a peculiar reminder that it was her 18th birthday. Not that she could forget it was her birthday. She had woken up to the ringing of her phone, her foggy mind instantly becoming alert when her dads name flashed across the screen.

"_Happy birthday Emmy!" Her dads cheerful voice drew a smile from the usual grumpy girl, six AM wasn't exactly Emily's favorite time of the day, and Wayne knew that, but tradition was tradition and her dad was intent on waking her up at the crack of dawn._

"_Thanks Dad, I wish you were here." She sighed, kicking off the covers tangled around her legs._

"_I know sweetie, but you'll have a wonderful day." The cheer in his voice faded as he cleared his throat. "Today's the big year. Have you checked for the-"_

"_No, not yet." Emily glanced hesitantly at her arm, the most common place where the ink materialized, but it was still as bare as it had been 6 hours ago. "I'm really nervous, Dad. All I'm going to be thinking about now every time someone talks to me is, whatever the hell my tattoo says."_

"_Language Emily."_

"_Sorry."_

_Wayne sighed, "I know you're nervous, I'm not too thrilled about it either. All I know is that these things are never wrong." _

"_I know. But I don't think I can handle the not knowing when it's going to happen. I hate the uncertainty."_

"_You'll be fine Emmy. Whoever your soulmate is, whenever you find them, it'll be worth the wait, I promise."_

Emily sighed as she traced the curving letters with her finger, her reflection staring forlornly back at her. Was she ready to meet her _soulmate, _where and when it happened? Out of all her friends she was the only one who wasn't thrilled with this, system or whatever it was. She didn't like the fact that five words would impact her future so severely, that they would dictate who she spent the rest of her life with.

"_You're like a mermaid."_

The spiraling letters tattooed onto her hip stood out like the red neon lights outside of The Brew at night. Her once tattoo-free skin looked pale in comparison to the striking black of the ink.

"_You're like a mermaid."_

_Water. _

At least this gave her some clue as to _where _she would meet her supposed soulmate. Somewhere with water, maybe the beach or the swimming pool at her high school?

What if it was one of her teammates.

She gulped as she pushed her shirt back into place, the tattoo disappearing under the soft fabric. She was nervous enough about going to school, what with all the stares she was bound to get from her classmates thanks to Hanna announcing to practically the whole school that today was her birthday. But now she had to worry about one of her teammates telling her that she was like a mermaid? Maybe she could skip practice today…and the rest of the year. She shook her head, taking deep calming breaths as she finished getting ready. She was determined not to let this _thing_ take over her life. Luckily they weren't allowed to show their tattoo to anybody, something that everyone knew was a rule despite no one ever actually having _said_ it. Her swimsuit would hide her tattoo perfectly anyways.

"Emily, breakfast is ready." Her mom's voice came softly from outside the bathroom door, the older woman having already wished Emily a happy birthday as soon as she ended the call with her dad. Emily glanced one last time at her reflection before opening the door and giving her mom a halfhearted smile. Her mom squeezed her forearm reassuringly as they walked downstairs to eat the birthday breakfast they had every year.

* * *

Her friends glanced at her as she plopped down next to them, "Do not say happy birthday. I don't think I can take another overly cheerful 'Happy birthday Emily'"

"Someone's not too thrilled about getting their tattoo." Spencer smirked, earning herself a glare from the birthday girl.

"No, I am not _thrilled_ at getting my tattoo, _Spencer." _She snapped. "Everyone's saying happy birthday as if that was my tattoo." She resisted the urge to groan when some guy she had never seen before walked past them, but not before wishing her a happy birthday. "See what I mean?"

Hanna gave her a teasing smirk, "Can't really blame them Em. If I didn't already know you weren't my soulmate I would be just as desperate as them."

Emily laughed despite herself, "Whatever Hanna. We already know your soulmate's going to be some rebellious guy."

"Plus you're not even gay." Spencer reminded her.

Hanna shrugged, "I wouldn't complain if my soulmate turned out to be a girl." Spencer raised her eyebrow at this. "What? I'm just saying."

Aria chuckled amusedly, dragging her eyes away from Hanna. "Don't worry too much Emily. When it happens, just stay calm. The tattoo isn't meant to scare you, and it definitely isn't a bad thing."

"Well it sure feels like it." She mumbled in response. "I mean, why does nobody question this? One day people start randomly getting tattoos and it turns out it's what your_ soulmate's_ going to say the first time you meet?"

"It's been like this for years Emily." Spencer reminded her in a calming tone. "Besides, it's not like you're going to meet your soulmate today. That rarely ever happens."

"Yeah well, with my luck I'm sure I'll be one of the rare ones." She grumbled sarcastically as she stood and gathered her belongings. "I just want to get today over with."

* * *

It turned out she didn't have to worry about meeting her soulmate that day. It's been five months and no one has uttered the words "You're like a mermaid." She's not sure whether she should feel relieved about that. If someone had said them to her she would have gotten to know her soulmate by now. What would she be doing if her soulmate was with her? She probably wouldn't be home alone watching some tv show about clones.

Or would she?

Maybe her soulmate would be watching it with her. What did her soulmate look like? This wasn't the first time she had racked her brain for some sort metal image of what her soulmate would look like. Would she be a short blonde with beautiful blue eyes? or maybe a brunette with a charming smile? _Stop thinking about this or you'll drive yourself crazy, _She sighed frustrated as she tried to focus on the show playing out on her screen.

"_How many of us are there?" _The protagonist muttered in disbelief_._

Was she going to look that stupidly shocked when she met her soulmate? What if they just laughed at her? _I really need to stop thinking about this. _She turned her tv off and grabbed her shoes. She needed to distract herself, and as intriguing as the show was she needed a physical distraction to keep her thoughts under control. She grabbed her car keys and made her way downstairs, glad she had the house to herself so she wouldn't have to explain to her mom where she was going.

She started her car and backed out of the drive way, her mind focused on her destination and nothing more. She didn't want to think about soul mates or life altering tattoos. She just wanted to swim and not have to worry about anything else.

There was a natatorium in the city that she had only gone to twice, one that wasn't overly crowded. She could have simply gone to her school, but at the moment the pool at Rosewood High held no appeal to her. Maybe she just wanted to drive, or maybe she just wanted to get away. Whatever her reasons, she didn't question them. She just drove, her music blasting through the cars speaker as she made her way to the natatorium in Philly.

* * *

Paige McCullers believed in soul mates even before she had know about the tattoos. She had always been a romantic, the kind that would write love letters and believed in love at first sight. When her mother had explained that soul mates were a real thing and not just something that lived in fairy tales, she had been overly ecstatic about it.

So when her eighteenth birthday came around and she hadn't immediately seen her tattoo, she panicked. She hurriedly undressed and searched for her tattoo, her heart beating frantically in her chest and tears welling in her eyes in fear that she hadn't gotten it. It wasn't until she turned around and spotted the black curling ink in her mirror that she let out a relieved laugh, her tears running down her smiling face as she stared at her reflection over her shoulder. The black letters were poetically marked onto her shoulder blade,

_You think you can beat me? _

Her smile grew as she stared at the swirling black question mark at the end of her tattoo. These were the first words her soulmate would say to her? Whoever this person was sounded like they weren't afraid of competition, something Paige was excited about. She was a competitive person herself, and having someone that could put up with her was something she was looking forward too.

"Where are you?" She asked, her fingertips grazing the black ink. "_Who_ are you?"

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you Paige? It's your birthday, we could take you out to eat after you finish training at the natatorium." Her mom was trying to convince her to spend the day with her and her dad, even though they both had meetings to attend to later during the evening.

"Mom, it fine, really. I was planning on meeting some friends after my training session anyways." She grabbed her gym bag and slung it over her shoulders.

"Honey it's your birthday, you don't have to train today." Her mother reminded her.

"I know, but I want to." Her mother stared worriedly at her. She thought Paige spent too much time training and was worried she wasn't getting enough rest. As for her dad, well, from the huge grin he was giving her she knew he approved of her decision. She smiled back at him and grabbed the keys to her car, hurrying out the door before her mom tried to convince her to stay with them again.

Once inside her car she relaxed and thought about her tattoo as she drove the ten minutes it took her to go from her house to the natatorium. She swore she could feel a slight burning on her shoulder blade but knew it was just her mind playing tricks on her. The tattoo wasn't like a regular tattoo, it didn't require healing or taking care of after it was done. No one really understood how it was the tattoos appeared, they just did. Nobody questioned them, except for the few that did. Mostly it was scientist wanting to get to the bottom of the mysterious tattoos, or the hesitant people that weren't sure they wanted a huge part of their future to be determined by a few inked words. But even they knew the tattoos worked.

Whether it was magic or just some unsolved scientific reasoning, Paige didn't care. She was happy knowing that somewhere, her soulmate was waiting for her to utter a single phrase that would forever change their lives.

* * *

The natatorium was mostly empty when Emily arrived. She spotted a few cars here and there but other than that it seemed like people had better things to do than to go swimming on a Friday afternoon. She grabbed her gym back from the trunk of her car and hurried inside. She listened to the faint splashes coming from the pool as she changed into her swimsuit, careful to hide her tattoo from the rest of the girls in the locker room.

Once she was ready she locked her belongings in the locker and made her way to the pool. A few girls were swimming laps, but not enough that they took up all the lanes. Some of them had a black sleeve over their arm or forearm to hide their tattoos, which meant that they still hadn't meet their soulmate yet.

Maybe coming to the natatorium was a bad idea. She was suppose to stop thinking about soul mates and tattoos but how was she suppose to do that when she was surrounded by eighteen year olds?

She sighed and sat on the edge of the pool, her feet sinking into the cool water. A few girls stared at her, their eyes searching for a patch of black clothing that would indicate where her tattoo was. She ignored their questioning eyes when they found nothing and pulled her cap over her head, followed by her googles. She pushed herself off the ground and into the water, her arms gliding effortlessly as she began her warm up laps.

* * *

Paige sat on one of the benches against the wall of the natatorium, her eyes following the silhouette that moved fluidly underwater. She wasn't sure how long she'd been watching the girl swim lap after lap, and normally she wouldn't have ogled so openly at her, but the natatorium was empty, most of the people having left already. She hadn't gotten in the water yet, afraid that she would disrupt the elegance with which the girl swam.

It wasn't until the girl stopped, on hand grabbing onto the edge of the pool while the other pulled off her googles, that Paige stood. She bit her lip as she eyed the swimmers profile, uncertain of wether she should approach her or not. She took a deep breath and gathered her courage, unsure of why she felt so nervous. She took another few steps in the girls direction and spoke the words that had been floating around in her mind while she had watched the girl swim.

"You're like a mermaid." Paige said, her voice echoing in the empty room. The girl turned around, startled and stared at her with wide eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just, you're a really good swimmer, _really _good. Probably not as good as me but…" She trailed off, a shy yet challenging smile on her lips. She bit her lip anxiously when the girl continued to stare at her, her eyes scrutinizing every inch of her, until she finally shook her head, water droplets falling from her hair.

She seemed to take a deep breath before her eyes finally meet Paige's, her lips pulling into a sheepish yet relieved smile. Her voice was gentle, yet her words set fireworks in Paige's heart as she spoke,

"You think you can beat me?"

* * *

So, hope you liked it :)


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